3 Reasons Why NFL Should Drop Pro-Bowl Game
The NFL should consider discontinuing its Pro Bowl game and instead follow a similar model that’s scheduled for this year’s Pro Bowl week. Here’s why:
1. Safety
Football is a violent sport where collisions occur on every play. Players are exposed to a career-altering injury on any given snap. As awkward as it may sound, NFL players rely on their bodies to generate income. Unlike MLB or NBA contracts, NFL contracts aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed because of injury. Therefore, any slight injury may not only alter players’ careers, but their quality of life after football as well.
Granted players lower their intensity during the Pro Bowl, but that doesn’t guarantee that a player is exempt from injury. The Pro Bowl is a competition, a friendly one, but a competition nonetheless.
2. Lack of Entertainment Value
The Pro Bowl is not ‘must-see’ television. Rather, it feels like a ‘fill-in’ game that the NFL pieces together one week before the Super Bowl to keep NFL fans at bay. During the game, teams usually refrain from playing tenacious defense which eventually can lead to teams trying to flex their offensive prowess with trick plays and such. Yes, for some this may be entertaining, but that doesn’t necessarily generate an adrenaline rush that a fan may feel when watching a tightly contested NFL game.
Sure there’s some friendly trash talk and banter that occurs during the game, but if anything the Pro Bowl is nothing more than a glorified pick-up game.
3. A Mere Resumé Booster
Unlike the MLB where the winning team receives home-field advantage for its league throughout the World Series, the winning Pro Bowl team doesn’t necessarily win anything for their conference. Rather, the respective MVPs will receive a trophy and be featured on ESPN for some interviews, but that’s about it. Players really aren’t playing for anything— well some may play for pride, but does it really matter?
If anything, players desire a Pro Bowl nomination to boost their resumé for when it comes time to sign a free-agent deal or even a contract extension.
Now, don’t be fooled, earning a spot on a Pro Bowl roster is a prestigious honor as it rewards a player for their impressive display on the gridiron throughout the regular season. However, a Pro Bowl nomination is a byproduct of a player’s preparation and desire to win a Super Bowl, not a Pro Bowl.
As the Pro Bowl goes virtual this year, in the future the NFL should consider changing the Pro Bowl itself to a day or even a week of competitive, non-contact, football-related activities, but not a meaningless game.